September 25, 2012

Weird German Music

I'm not one to make rash, abrasive and critical judgement on music but I think something needs to be said about the weird German music I keep getting exposed to.

During Urban Art Forms in Austria, hoards of festival crowds flocked to the stage for Deichkind. If you thought the Japanese were leaders in the odd, quirky and confusing - think again! Germans may be able to give them a run for their money. This music video is full of "what the fuck" goodness - just like their live set.


During Melt festival, I encountered an artist called Rummelsnuff. When I asked my friend what type of music he plays, the reply was, "Very special music". He is an old security guard turned into a hit sensation. He is very buff, very bald, very gay and very popular.


I don't get it.

September 18, 2012

Trip 37: Urban Art Forms Festival & Graz, Austria


Trip date: Thursday July 5 - Sunday July 8, 2012

With Canada's population density and short summers, it's no surprise that music festivals in Canada cannot generate the crowd and present the same quality of artists that can be done in Europe. We have a lot of heart in Canada and festivals back home are equally about the festival community as they are the music. However, I am taking advantage of my year abroad to attend the Urban Art Forms festival - the entire set list of this festival is equivalent to every drum and bass DJ coming to Calgary in the next 3 years.

All in attendance: Jason and Kristen

The festival is held this year next to the Schwarzlsee Lake in Graz, Austria's second biggest city after Vienna. It is such a luxury to board a night train and then take a short 15 minute bus ride to the festival ground. Good tunes and good dancing started on that night train from Zurich to Graz and did not stop until the ride home. No need to drive 10+ hours like back home - festivals are all rail/bus accessible!

Jason and I waited in the hot and humid line up to get in after arriving to the site. The most apparent difference between this festival and the festivals I have been to back home is the lack of people in outrageous costumes. But what this festival lacks in costumes, it makes up in alcohol consumption.



All shady spots by the lake were already taken by the time Jason and I arrived inside. We managed to find 4 French guys from Bordeaux and became good friends, good neighbours and most importantly, good dancing partners.

Festivals are usually held in the boonies in Canada so it felt really crazy to be able to take a 10 minute bus into town for shopping and supplies. Common to all German speaking countries, water here at the festival was more expensive than beer.


Highlights include:
  • Blistering hot days spent snoozing by the lake
  • Working plumbing bathrooms and free showers
  • Incredible line up of artist
  • Hospitality stage
  • Yelling HELGA throughout the festival
  • Chilling out by the Beach Stage
  • Sunrise at the Minimal Stage
  • Knowing enough German to make good acquaintances and enough French to make friends 
  • Jason and I surviving on a diet of olives, pickles and energy drinks


Lowlights include:
  • Pushing through the Drum and Bass stage which was indoors and an excruciating +45°C
  • Insane Austrian heat
We even had time to visit Graz after the festival. We had 12 hours from the end of the festival until our night train (taking us directly to work, boo). Cool fact: Arnold Schwarzenegger is from Graz. In our post festival haze, Jason and I could do little more than eat copious amount of food at an "Asian" restaurant (eating our weight in Chinese stir fry and miso soup) and wander around the old town.

Graz is incredibly ornate but this is no surprise since ornate buildings seem to be the Austrian way. We walked up to the Schlossberg -  a castle with a great city view. Graz also has a lot of unique contemporary architecture including its Kunsthaus and Mur River Wooden Bridge.




Feeling pretty dazed, Jason and I decided to kill time by watching a movie. Choosing a simple movie is key when watching it dubbed in a language that you only sort of know. We chose The Amazing Spiderman which was the perfect level of understanding for A2 German. They also have crazy North American soda pop sizes too.


And then it was a long night train ride until arriving in Zurich on Monday morning and then setting off to work.

September 12, 2012

Trip 36: La Côte d'Azur, France

Trip date: Thursday June 7 - Sunday June 10, 2012

Enough of these city breaks - let's take an actual vacation. Where better than the French Rivera where language for me is no problem and our biggest responsibilities are to eat as much as we can (olives, duck, fruits, French pastries and maybe even scary cheese) and enjoy the Mediterranean sea.

Cities visited: Marseilles, Hyères, Porquerolles, Nice

All in attendance: Jason and Kristen

Jason and I flew into Marseilles on Wednesday night. What was eerie was being the only people from the airport to take the shuttle to the train station and off to Marseille. I guess it was because it was a weekday. We receive several stern warnings from our colleague Paul, who is from Marseille, about dangerous communities and crime in the city. We were lucky that in our dazed and lost wandering to our hostel, we avoided all of this.

MARSEILLE

We stayed at Hello Marseille hostel and shared a double bed in a dorm for a steep 20 euro. I can already see many hot sweaty hostel nights ahead because all we had this night was an un-moving fan and even in June, sleeping in would've been an impossibility. Hello Marseille is by le Vieux Port. There was lots of construction going on but we managed to find a cozy cafe to take a coffee + brownie to fuel us for the day ahead.


We walked through the old town (cue: narrow streets) and stopped inside Cathédrale La Major (also called by its shorter name Marseille Cathedral or its crazy long name Cathédrale Sainte-Marie-Majeure de Marseille). Feeling lazy and overheated, we took a bus from this church to see Marseille's basilica  Notre-Dame de la Garde which overlooks the city on a tall hill.

You get a great view of the the city from above and a great view of the gold Jesus on top of the Notre-Dame. You can see Château d'If which is a church on an island not too far from the mainland. Inside the basilica is a bit unique because small models of ships and boats hang from its grand ceilings. It's also bright and colourful inside, not scary and foreboding like Gothic style cathedrals can be.



We left Marseille to go to Hyères, another town on the French Riviera taking the 18:38 train. We ended up missing our connection and having to take a bus into the center of Hyères where we set off to find out hotel without any maps or any clue.

HYÈRES


Hyères consist of a small town on the main land and a few islands (Îles d'Hyères). We attempted to find a hostel, campground or a Couchsurfing host but found no success. We ended up staying at Etap Hotel De Hyères, a hotel not to far from the old town for 24.50 euros each in a private double room. A room fitted with a television, private shower and AC - what luxury!!!

We took it easy the first night we arrived and settled down to an evening of fancy oven fired pizza and 2 euro wine while watching fear propaganda on CNN and Fight Club dubbed in French.

The next morning we woke up and found out we missed all early bus connections down to the port to take us to the islands. While waiting for the next bus connection, Jason and I wandered through the beautifully commercialized old town (shops and shops and more shops) and paid too much for fancy tea in a small cafe. Two islands are of interest in this area, Porquerolles and Port-Cros. Paul told us that Port-Cros has as astounding fish population which got us really fixated on the idea of snorkling. It is, however, much father than Porquerolles and when push finally came to shove, we ended up just going to the large island of Porquerolles for the day.



We rented bikes - and something I am not proud of but probably needs to be stated is that I really don't know how to ride a bike. Having never owned one (and never learned as a child) I can't really do more than really offbalanced straight peddling and dangerous and questionable turns. Wipe-outs and embarrassment in front of posh French vacationers ensue.

Cue: lazy days on beaches, reading books in the shade, snorkeling with over priced plastic equipment.

Snorkeling here was nice, a few fish here and there but probably nothing thrilling for anyone who's done it before.

We took the ferry back and then the bus and settled down for a share-no-expense fancy french dinner. I ordered duck and it was so tasty that I am certain that I will think of it many times in the upcoming future when I am eating greasy fast-food back in Canada.

MARSEILLE II


We were brainwashed by the over zealous hostel worker in Marseille about les Calanques - an impossible beautiful bay with limestone cliffs right near the university in Marseille. A few seconds on google was all it took to convince Jason and I that it was absolutely necessary to go back.

We woke up early and went back to Marseille, dropped our bags in a left luggage locker and off we went on a bus towards the University. We followed the small crowd who got off at the University parking lot and it was just a short walk before we could see the edge of beautiful light grey cliffs and impossibly blue water.


A whole day of picnicking and lying around in the shade. We should've brought shoes or watershoes because the cliffs were pretty rocky. Jason did more snorkeling while I ate olives, snoozed along the bay and read Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.

NICE II


See my previous visit to Nice
We didn't stay the night in Marseille but got our stuff from left luggage and took the train to Nice. We both went in February for carnival so it was a revisit to a town we love instead of visiting a new city (such as Cannes). We spent the last night and last day of our trip in the Nice food market (buying lots of fancy sugars, dried tomatoes and crazy colour mustards), eating mussels and relaxing by the water. Cozy shisha bars on rainy French days.


This trip was the first one all year that truly felt like a relaxing vacation.

Things I liked:
  • Beautiful weather, beautiful food, beautiful sights and relaxation
Things to do when I come back:
  •  Go to Nimes, Cannes and Port-Cros